An Interview with 'My Life & 1000 Houses' Mitch Stephen

Mitch Stephen has been a full time investor since March ‘96. He’s flipped 1000+ properties and is author of the book, My Life & 1000 Houses. You may download the first 100 ages of his book at www.1000Houses.com. His autobiography is one of a high school graduate striving to find his place in the world. With over (70 ) 5 STAR REVIEWS, it is evident that this author has mastered the art of delivering inspiration and an educational value in a most entertaining way. In short, My Life & 1,000 Houses depicts the trails and tribulations of an amateur business man who stumbles upon the great, long standing revelations, of business, money, love and life while struggling to find his own financial freedom.

Mitch Stephen was honored by the San Antonio Real Estate Investor’s Association (SREIA) in 2007. Despite the fact that he’d never been on the board or held an official position, the president, sitting board and over 800 members voted to dedicate the offices in his name…the “Mitch Stephen Investment Center.”

Mitch is also an avid songwriter. He likes to say, “I’ve been writing songs for over thirty years…and I’m going to get good at it any day now!” That being said, Stephen took honors at the 2005 Tejano Music Awards, winning “Crossover Song of the Year” for his part in co-writing the song “Who’s That Gringo” performed by multiple Grammy Award winner David Lee Garza and group Los Musicales; Co-writer Billy O’Rourke. Hear much of Mitch’s music at www.MitchStephen.com -over 45 original songs!

Today Mitch’s interests have expanded into several real estate related businesses:

Mitch Stephen is actively involved in the San Antonio . Texas real estate community:

- Mitch provides owner financing opportunities to “would be home owners” who cannot fit into institutions mortgage programs. www.Homes2Go.NET

- Mitch loans hard money to proven real estate investors who cannot find institutional money. www.Loans2Go.NET

- Mitch offers boat and mini storage units in and about Canyon Lake , Texas www.CanyonLakeStorage.com

- Mitch offers affordable office space to entrepreneurs in NE San Antonio

210-669-4020

Last but not least, Mitch and his family support Community Bible Church (CBC) of San Antonio , TX . If you are interested in why Mitch attends CBC, you may tune in online at www.CBConline.com. Watch and listen to Pastor Robert Emmitt’s unique talent for bring the good news to the world.

You can visit his website at www.1000Houses.com. Connect with him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/mitch_stephen or Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=1074602878 and http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/My-Life-1000-Houses/129994207021032.

Welcome to The Writer's Life, Mitch. Can you tell us how long you’ve been writing and how your journey led to writing your latest book, My Life & 1,000 Houses?

I’ve been writing songs for over 30 years but one day something tragic happened in my life and I guess I responded by writing in the style of a book. I started in 2004. I actually wrote 800 pages and carved out what became My Life & 1,000 Houses; Failing Forward to Financial Freedom.

I love your title…can you tell us why you chose it?

I thought it was a name that would make a person slow down and take a look at the book. I wanted to hone in on a niche that I could identify easily. Real estate agents, brokers, and investors was an obvious group. While the book does use real estate investing as the backdrop, it could be enjoyed by many other types of people

Why did you believe your book should be published?

I’ve been around the real estate business a long time. More importantly I’ve done my fair share of deals… I’ve live it! People constantly wanted to understand how I was able to do some of the things I did and it was virtually impossible to explain to them over lunch or even a few days. Another thing I couldn’t tell them in a short meeting was how life intertwines with business. How the natural laws of the universe can work for and/or against you. I had something to say and for whatever reason I was moved to get it out to the public.

We all know that publishers can’t do all of the publicity and that some lies on the author. What has your publisher done so far to publicize the book and what have you done?

I self published so there has been no outside help, but I’ll tell you a little of what I did to get on the map as an author. I hired a social media coach for a few months and started using twitter and FaceBook…asking if anyone wanted to interview me about my book. I did get takers and I recorded those interviews and use them in my email signature religiously. I paid for someone to get me available in all the different formats; Paperback, Audio CDs, e-Audio, e-Book, Kindle, Nook. After reading the reviews at Amazon.com, I decided to give the first 100 pages of my 400 page book away at my site 1000houses.com. The Amazon Reviews told me that the average person was reading my 400 page book in about 2 seatings. It said to me that if I could get a person to start reading my book, they would want to finish reading it. This has really helped my sales. I love it because I call everyone who leaves me a correct phone number when they download the first 100 pages and I’m making friends all over the country and even in some other countries like Canada. I have had people tell me I give to much of my book away but I persist.

#1: There are still plenty 300 pages left (which is a good size book in itself).

#2. I get to communicate with people that download the first 100 pages because I now have their name, email and possibly their phone number.

#3. The conversion rate is really high; especially if they give me their correct phone number. You see, I get a text the second someone downloads this gift and I call them as the author within seconds of them clicking the download button on their computer. This is very fun for me and possibly my favorite marketing idea.

What book on the market can it compare to? How is it different? What makes your book special?

There are literally hundreds of books on the subject of investing in real estate. I think there are several reasons why My Life & 1,000 Houses is different. The number one things is that this book is not a How To book in the sense that I’m going to lay out exactly how to profit in a step by step fashion. My book in an autobiography. While a person could learn a lot about real estate investing in the book, it is not a lesson plan. Second, I am not trying to up sell anyone to the next coarse or mentoring program. I am not glossing over the parts that are not fun or that may be dangerous for new investors. In fact, As the sub-title Failing Forward to Financial Freedom suggests. I fall down often in this book and some of it is embarrassing. Third, my book depicts the growth of a person moving from a hopefully, amateur entrepreneur into a successful businessman. There is a lot of life mixed into this book of business and rightfully so. Life will always interrupt your business…and I don‘t think the Gurus are addressing that issue as much as they are waving big checks in your face. Much of my book has to do with how we mitigate life on the way to the financial success.

Open to a random page in your book. Can you tell us what is happening?

I’m in the marriage councilor’s office with my wife because my wife thinks my investing in real estate is equivalent to gambling. You won’t believe what happens…I’m telling you, I’m couldn’t make this stuff up.

Do you plan subsequent books?

The book is just over 400 pages. The first half of the book is autobiographical and on a timeline from beginner to professional. The second half of the book consists of 18 stories. These stories lend to the adage that life is stranger than fiction. It would have been hard for me to make this stuff up. I already have about 20 more stories in waiting. So, there may be some More Stories from My Life & 1,000 Houses.

I am also writing some very in depth How To segments that can be found on my website www.1000Houses.com in the Education Store (Bottom – Right corner). While I try to keep the reading lively, it is more of a lesson plan by nature because so many have asks for literature drilling down into various aspects of investing; How to start a real estate investing business, how to start with little or no money, how to find bargain properties, how to find private money for investing, how to deal with contractors, how to sell your properties etc., etc.

Thank you for your interview, Mitch. Do you have any final words?

I’d like to thank you and your audience for allowing me the opportunity to talk about My Life & 1,000 Houses and I’ll leave you all with some information as to the different formats you may receive my book.

Mitch Stephen

My Life & 1,000 Houses;

Failing Forward to Financial Freedom

ISBN: 9781419698545 Paperback

ISBN: 978-1-4524-9996-3 e-Book

ISBN: 9780615305561 Audio CD version

Also Available on Kindle, Nook and e-Audio Download

Find all versions at www.1000Houses.com